Rideshare program provides an alternative to public transportation in Monterey County
jose.romo
MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) — An alternative to public transportation might be coming to Monterey County. Based out of the San Joaquin Valley, Green Raiteros is looking to bridge the gap by providing an equitable, low-cost alternative for farm workers, seniors, and people of low income.
“We wanna make sure that they have access to their critical appointments,” says Rey León, executive director of the Latino Equity Advocacy and Policy Institute.
Stanley Dedini has lived in Greenfield for most of his life and now owns a farm. He says he sees the issue firsthand. “You got a lot of farm workers that some of them even walk to work.” He adds, “We gotta have something in there, public transportation or something like that, and we need the workers. We need the workers here. That’s the guys we need to help.”
A need for a rideshare system is bringing back the cultural aspect of raiteros along the San Joaquin Valley. Green Raiteros would look to bridge the need for transport, providing farm workers, seniors, and people of low income with an electric vehicle rideshare fleet.
“Every community should have their own electric vehicle fleet so that they don’t have to have the need to own their own car, and the research that we’ve done it’s over $800 per month to own your own vehicle, more if you are still making payments,” Rey says. He adds their surveys have seen people pollution from cars is perpetuating poverty in a lot of low-income communities.
Rey says the idea for a ride-sharing program was born from his experience as a raitero for his mother, who is a survivor of cancer. At that time, he recalls driving her to her appointments from Huron to Fresno.
“When I wasn’t around, it was heart-wrenching because she would call me almost at midnight, saying, ‘hey, my ride’s not going to be able to take me after all.’ You know, I can’t sleep. I’m really stressed out.” He adds that the stress of not having a trustworthy driver for her appointments would hinder her health.
Today, the program covers five counties, from Madera to Kern County. Currently, LEAP is working to expand to Monterey County with two electric vans that can carry three people in wheelchairs. Rey says the first step is to start in the communities of Pájaro and Watsonville with an ambitious goal.
“What makes the Pajaro Valley special in terms of green raiteros, it’ll be the first site that will count on two electric vans that each have the capacity to hold three wheelchairs. So those people who are not as mobile will have, and will be able to count on electric vans that could take them to their appointments wherever they may be.”
Rey adds that Green Raiteros is working to establish partnerships with other Monterey County cities, as he sees a common need in the community, as in his hometown of Huron.